Following a successful Global Day of Prayer in the Wilmington community, the Volunteer Center has prepared for Pray Wilmington Inc. a list of potential projects the church community can engage in. The list follows.

Big Buddy Shoot Out Rescheduled for June 14th drew a faithful crowd to Williston Middle School!

1800volunteer.org is our effort to help you 24/7 to find a way to volunteer. Since you have access to a computer all you have to do is type in the address, then your zip code. It will show you the agencies, the volunteering opportunites and events in our area within a 20 mile radius of your home! All free to you. If you are an Agency, you can post your opportunity, event or have your volunteers track their hours, again all free to you -- at this time.

The Volunteer Center also offers one-on-one matching, if you desire to hear about opportunities not posted at this site, which there are many! Give us a call and the director will sit down with you and find out where you heart is through a process that she has refined to know exactly what and where you may best be suited to serve.

We hope to be the link to hook you up to where you want to be.

The Cape Fear Volunteer Center wishes to share with you the following information from our up-line National affiliate the Points of Light Hands On Network, we are sharing this in an effort to get the word out about the Volunteer Generation Fund in case you are not aware of the Bill. Please do all you can to raise awareness of this bill. The Cape Fear Volunteer Center is the least funded Volunteer Center in the state, I do not believe this will make us more funded, but we can hope it will bring dollars to volunteerism.

We continue to work toward a new date in partnership with the Sea Dawgs, the WPD and the Sheriffs Department to hold this charity event to benefit Big Buddy. At this moment it looks like we are hoping to hold the event in conjunction with the Sea Dawgs play off games in late March early April, but no date has been set. All tickets will be honored whenever the game is held. We are doing our best to honor all interests. Thank you for your understanding. Should you have any concerns please phone our office. 910-392-8180

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It is with much sadness that we announce the Big Buddy Shoot Out that was scheduled for Sunday, February 22, 2009 has been cancelled due to the death of Wilmington Police Officer Richard Matthews. Jointly all parties wished to honor the life of the young officer by cancelling the event and rescheduling in the near future. The tickets purchased will be honored at the 5:00pm game on February 22, 2009 between the Sea Dawgs and the 11-0 Knights. The tickets will also be honored for the game between the Wilmington Police Department and the New Hanover County Sherrif's Office when the game is resheduled. Questions about tickets for this game or the future scheduling of the Shoot Out can and should be directed to the Cape Fear Volunteer Center, home of the Big Buddy program. Thank you for your support of this mentoring program for the at risk youth of our community.
910-392-8180

This is the nation’s largest one day food drive. It is planned and coordinated by the National Association of Letter Carriers and occurs in May. Volunteers are needed to unload the Letter Carrier trucks as they arrive at The various post offices with the sacks of food they have picked up on their routes. Between 60,000 and 70,000 pounds of food is collected for The Food Bank on that day. Volunteers may assist any time between 2:00-5:30pm.

This job is physically demanding. Volunteers will be lifting moderately heavy bags frequently.
This volunteer opportunity is available to the following types of volunteers Adolescents (13-17) Families
Adults (26-54) Individual
Adults (55+) Young Adults (18-25)

The Cape Fear Volunteer Center has set the date for this years Azalea Festival Children’s Tea for March 22, The Enchanted Princess Tea will be held at SOHO 4106 Oleander Drive, Wilmington NC 28403 this 7th Annual Azalea Festival Associated Event is by reservation only. Tickets must be purchased in advance by check only, and purchased through the Cape Fear Volunteer Center.

Wilmington area youth and community leaders will
gather to watch a broadcast of inspiring remarks from General Colin L. Powell, USA
(Ret), at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast in Minneapolis on
Monday, January 19.
The Wilmington Area Leadership Foundation, in partnership with the Cape Fear
Volunteer Center, is hosting a community event which highlights this broadcast at the
Fire House on the corner of S. 5th and Castle Streets - beginning at 8:00am.
The Wilmington Area Leadership Foundation is part of a three-year, 16-city National
Mentoring Project, supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, to provide more than
4,000 additional mentors for at-risk youth in these cities. The goal in Wilmington is to
add 300 new mentors to work with at-risk young people to improve school performance,
reduce truancy and drug use, and increase youth employment. Through the new project
called “Outside the Walls”, the faith community is being encouraged to respond to this
challenge and make a difference in the community-at-large by making a commitment to
mentor at-risk youth. Adults interested in mentoring youth, age 5-18, can call Stephanie
Price at 910-392-8180. Training is provided.
The General Mills Foundation and UNCF (United Negro College Fund) have hosted the
Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast in the Twin Cities since 1991. This year, in a
unique alliance that features technology support from Best Buy, General Powell’s
address will be simulcast by Twin Cities Public Television to nearly a dozen other cities
involved in the National Mentoring Project. Best Buy also plans to make the keynote
address available to its 1,000 stores around the country.
General Powell will bring to life this year’s theme—Lead, Grow, Inspire—particularly as
it relates to America’s young people. General Powell was the founding chairman of
America’s Promise Alliance, the nation’s largest multi-sector collaborative dedicated to
the well-being of children. A soldier for 35 years, General Powell rose to the rank of
four-star general. He served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to
1993, and as Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005, breaking barriers as the first
African-American to hold those positions.
As the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization, UNCF’s
mission is to enhance the quality of education by providing financial assistance to
deserving students, raising operating funds for member colleges and universities, and
increasing access to technology for students and faculty at historically black colleges
and universities.
The General Mills Foundation, celebrating more than 50 years of giving, is a champion
for stronger communities. In fiscal 2008, General Mills awarded $87 million to
communities, in targeted areas of youth nutrition and fitness, hunger, social services,
education, and arts and culture.
Best Buy, a multinational consumer electronics retailer, focuses its social change
platform on giving teens a voice and opportunities to direct the company’s philanthropy
through the newly created @15 fund. In fiscal 2008, Best Buy donated a combined
$31.8 million to improve the vitality of the communities in which its employees and
customers live and work.

A rivalry between the Wilmington Police Department and the New Hanover County Sheriff's Department, this annual basketball game hits the court in February. The event's purpose is to raise funds to benefit the CFVC Big Buddy Program expenses. The money will be used to recruit, train, screen and manage new volunteers that work with little buddies, in addition the funds will be used to execute programming for those little buddies enrolled in the program. The 16th annual “Shoot Out’ between our law enforcement teams will be an exciting afternoon! While they settle long standing rivalries the public can support children that come from single family homes and are in need of a mentor in their lives to show them some opportunities that they may not already know of, so that they can thrive and prosper. This is the first year the event will be held in conjunction with the Wilmington Sea Dawg's and we look forward to honoring our communities civil servants in the most wonderful way possible with a great day on the court! Tickets are $8.00 and can be purchased from any Cape Fear Volunteer Center Board Member or Big Buddy or at the Cape Fear Volunteer Center Office call 392-8180. The game starts at 1:00, if you would like to be a sponsor or a volunteer we can use your help with that as well.

The Big Buddy Case Manager, Chad McPeters, and volunteers scurried to complete the float the weekend of the parade, making sure there plenty of lights on the truck and the float to wow the viewers that would line the streets of Wilmington for the Christmas Parade. Their efforts of working in the cold for days did not go unnoticed as the Cape Fear Volunteer Center Big Buddy Float took home Third place in the Wilmington Christmas Parade. Big and Little Buddies, equipped with fishing rods with candy canes "fishing for new Big Buddy mentors", and the Wilmington Sea Dawg Cheerleaders and Salty Sea Dawg along with Sea Dawg Manager Billy and some players filled the gorgeous boat loaned to us for the parade by Landscape Solutions. The company truck added to the celebration of the float with strobes announcing the boat of well wishers from "North Pole Fishing". The float second to last announced the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus which also held a Big Buddy family that road on the fire truck with the Claus's a true honor for our Big Buddy family. A great time was had by all who weathered the cold night air to wave to crowds, thank you to the committee for our plaque, we look forward to participating next year and thank the volunteers and Chad who put together our float for 2008!